Ring fixing structure for woodwind musical instrument and method of obtaining the same

ABSTRACT

In order to fix rings firmly around the elongated hollow bodies of a woodwind musical instrument, such as their joints and bell edge for reinforcing and ornamental purposes, grooves are formed, respectively, in opposite portions of the elongated hollow bodies and rings, and an adhesive of hot-melt-type is inserted and disposed in the grooves. After fitting the ring to the elongated hollow body with both grooves facing each other, the adhesive is heated into a melted state and solidified, the ring and the elongated hollow body being firmly adhered to each other.

United States Patent Nagao [4 1 Jan. 18, 1972 RING FIXING STRUCTURE FORf rences Cited WOODWIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENT UMTED ST TE T AND METHOD OFOBTAINING THE s A ENTS SAME 1,359,594 11/1920 Hams ..l56/293 2,328,5749/1943 Mueller ..s4/as2 lnventor: Aklra Nagao, l-lamamatsu, Japan NipponGaklrl Seizo Kabushlki Kalsha, Shizuoka-ken, Japan Oct. 28, 1970Assignee:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 31, 1969 Japan ..44/103322 US. Cl34/380, 156/257, 156/293 Int. Cl. B23b 31/00, B290 19/00, GlOd 7/00Field of Search ..84/380-385; 156/257, 293

Primary Examiner-Richard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner-John F.Gonzales Attorney-Flynn & Frishauf [57] ABSTRACT In order to fix ringsfirmly around the elongated hollow bodies of a woodwind musicalinstrument, such as their joints and bell edge for reinforcing andornamental purposes, grooves are formed, respectively, in oppositeportions of the elongated hollow bodies and rings, and an adhesive ofhot-melt-type is inserted and disposed in the grooves.

After fitting the ring to the elongated hollow body with both groovesfacing each other, the adhesive is heated into a melted state andsolidified, the ring and the elongated hollow body being firmly adheredto each other.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENIEDJMWBIZ 3535,11?

FIG. 1 FIG 2 FIG. 4

RING FIXING STRUCTURE FOR WOODWIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENT AND METHOD OFOBTAINING THE SAME BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates towoodwind musical instruments such as a clarinet, and more particularlyto fixing structure of rings to be fixed onto one end of a plurality ofelongated hollow bodies constituting such woodwind musical instruments.

A woodwind musical instrument such as a clarinet, as well known,includes a plurality of elongated hollow bodies respectively calledmouthpiece, barrel, upper joint, lower joint, and bell. When suchwoodwind musical instrument is used, elongated hollow bodies areconnected in a prescribed order.

A metallic cylindrical ring is inserted under pressure around thecircumference of the end portion of each elongated body to be connectedwith the other body for reinforcing the end portion to prevent thedamage of the end portion of the body when elongated hollow bodies areconnected with each other. The ring is simply fitted onto thecircumferential edges of the end portions of the body from the outsidealong the axial direction.

Consequently, in case that there is a change in the ambient conditions,for instance, the humidity falls, the bodies markedly contract and thering is thereby loosened or separated from the bodies. If such is thefact, the ring provided for the purpose of reinforcing can not attainits object, and damage often occurs to the connecting portion of eachelongated hollow body when the woodwind musical instrument falls down orwhen it is subjected to a sudden change in humidity or temperature.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, accordingly, an object of this inventionto provide a fixing structure of a ring of a woodwind musicalinstrument, always able to maintain a firmly fixed state between thering and the elongated hollow body and withstanding the change of thehumidity.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a method of fixing aring around the elongated hollow bodies of the musical instrument.

The woodwind musical instrument comprises a plurality of elongatedhollow bodies and rings attached to one end of each body. Thecharacteristic of the present invention consists in the improvementwherein grooves are provided respectively in the oppositecircumferential portions of the elongated hollow bodies and the rings,and an adhesive of hot melt type for fixedly adhering the ring and theelongated hollow body, is disposed in the grooves.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERREDEMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. 1, a woodwind musical instrument such as aclarinet is composed by connecting in sequence following elongatedhollow bodies, a mouthpiece I, a barrel 2, an upper joint 3, a lowerjoint 4 and a bell 5.

The reference numeral 6 denotes a mouthpiece cap attached to one end ofthe mouthpiece l.

of a clarinet, an example of An annular ring or band 7 made of nickelsilver, for instance, is fitted around the end or joint portion of eachelongated hollow body to be connected with the other body. A similarring or band 7' is fitted onto the circumference of the flared end ofthe bell 5 positioned at the end of the woodwind musical instrument. Therings fitted around .the respective elongated hollow bodies protect thejoints of the respective bodies and the bell and also serve asornaments.

Referring now to FIG. 2, one example of the ring fixing structure ofthis invention wherein the ring is fitted around the joint of elongatedhollow bodies will first be explained as follows: A step portion 8 isformed down to a depth substantially equal to thickness of a ring 7along the circumference of the end portion of an elongated hollow body,such as a barrel 2 of the woodwind musical instrument, to be connectedwith the other body or upper joint 3; and on the entire circumference ofthe middle portion of this step portion 8, a groove 9 is formed. Anothergroove 10 is formed in the inside portion of the ring 7 opposite to thegroove 9 of the step portion 8. An adhesive 11 of hot melt type isinserted into the groove 10 of the ring and/or the groove 9 in the stepportion 8 of the-elongated hollow body, and thereafter the ring 7 isfitted into the step portion 8 of the body 2. After fitting the ringinto the step portion 8 of the elongated hollow body with both of thegrooves 9 and 10 facing each other, the adhesive of hot melt type isheated from the outside of the ring 7 by using a suitable heating meansuntil it is in a melted state. The melted adhesive flows through thegrooves 9 and 10, and then by removing the heating means from thevicinity of the ring, the adhesive is solidified, and the ring 7 andbody 2 are fixedly adhered.

Since the ring 7 is fixedly adhered to the elongated hollow body withthe aid of an adhesive of hot melt type according to this invention, thering is neither loosened nor separated from the body even when there isa change in humidity or when the musical instrument falls down. Further,if knurling is fonned in the bottom of the grooves 9 and 10 of the ring7'and the step portion of the elongated hollow body, a stronger adhesionis ensured between the ring and the elongated body and prevents therotation of the ring more effectively.

The stepped end portion of another elongated body 3, as shown in FIG. 2,is inserted into the end portion or bore of the elongated hollow body 2around which the ring 7 is fixed, thereby connecting two bodies witheach other. The reference numeral 12 indicates a cork material which isfixedly set on the circumference of the stepped end of the body 3 toprovide friction and airtightness between the bodies 2 and 3.

As described above, the ring 7 according to another embodiment of thisinvention may be fitted onto the circumference of the flared end of thebell body 5 of a woodwind musical instrument to protect the bell body.That is, this invention may be applied likewise to the ring 7 of thebell body 5. As shown in FIG. 3, the circumferential portion of theflared end of the bell body is formed flat, and a groove 13 is musicalin the middle of this flat circumference and another groove 14 is formedin the inside portion, opposite to the groove 13, of the ring 7 to befitted to the circumference of the bell 5. An adhesive 15 of hot melttype is inserted into at least either one of the grooves, and thenheated in the same manner as in the aforesaid embodiment for fixedlyadhering the ring 7 and bell body 5 after the ring 7' is fitted aroundthe circumference of the bell 5 with both of the grooves facing eachother.

The conventional ring fixing structure in the bell body is, for example,such that a groove is formed along the circumference of the end portionof the bell body, and a protrusion to be fitted into the groove isformed along the inside circumference of the ring, fixing the ring tothe bell body by fitting the protrusion of ring into the groove of thebell body.

According to the ring fixing structure of this invention, fixing a ringon the bell body becomes much simpler compared to the prior art fixingstructure.

Although it suffices for this case to simply form grooves in the ringand bell body, it is of more practical use if knurling l6 is provided inthe bottom of at least one of the grooves 13 and 14 formed in the ringand bell body as shown in H6. 4. (FIG. 4 shows the knurling provided inthe groove of the ring 7.) In this case the ring is more firmly adheredto the bell body and the rotation of the ring is prevented moreeffectively.

This invention may be applied also to other woodwind musicalinstrumentssuch as an oboe, bassoon, wooden pipe piccolo, etc., inaddition to a clarinet.

What is claimed is:

1. A ring fixing structure for a woodwind musical instrument comprisingan elongated hollow body having a groove formed around the circumferenceof the end portion thereof, a ring fitted around the end portion of saidelongated hollow body and having a groove formed around the insideportion of said ring, both of said grooves facing each other, and anadhesive of hot melt type inserted and solidified in said grooves so asto securedly fix said ring to said elongated hollow body.

2. The ring fixing structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein knurling isprovided in at least either one of said grooves.

3, A ring fixing structure for a woodwind musical instrument comprisinga pair of elongated hollow bodies respectively having joint ends andconnected together by said joint ends, one of said elongated hollowbodies having a groove formed around the circumference of the joint endthereof, a ring fitted around the joint end of said elongated hollowbody and having a groove formed around the inside portion of said ring,both of said grooves facing each other, and an adhesive of hot melt typeinserted and solidified in said grooves so as to securedly fix said ringto said elongated hollow body.

4. The ring fixing structure as claimed in claim 3 which furthercomprises a step portion formed around the joint end of said elongatedhollow body, said groove being cut around said step portion.

5. A ring fixing structure for a woodwind musical instrument comprisingan elongated hollow body having a flared end, said flared end beinggrooved therearound, a ring fitted around said flared end and having agroove fonned around the inside portion of said ring, both of saidgrooves facing each other, and an adhesive of hot melt type inserted andsolidified in said grooves so as to securedly fix said ring to saidelongated hollow body.

6. A method of fixing a ring around an elongated hollow body of awoodwind musical instrument comprising the steps of forming groovesaround the end portion of said elongated hollow body and around theinside portion of said ring, respectively, inserting an adhesive of hotmelt type into at least one of said grooves, fitting said ring aroundthe end portion of said elongated hollow body, heating said adhesiveinto a melted state, and solidifying the melted adhesive thereby tosecuredly fix said ring to said elongated hollow body.

1. A ring fixing structure for a woodwind musical instrument comprisingan elongated hollow body having a groove formed around the circumferenceof the end portion thereof, a ring fitted around the end portion of saidelongated hollow body and having a groove formed around the insideportion of said ring, both of said grooves facing each other, and anadhesive of hot melt type inserted and solidified in said grooves so asto securedly fix said ring to said elongated hollow body.
 2. The ringfixing structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein knurling is provided inat least either one of said grooves.
 3. A ring fixing structure for awoodwind musical instrument comprising a pair of elongated hollow bodiesrespectively having joint ends and connected together by said jointends, one of said elongated hollow bodies having a groove formed aroundthe circumference of the joint end thereof, a ring fitted around thejoint end of said elongated hollow body and having a groove formedaround the inside portion of said ring, both of said grooves facing eachother, and an adhesive of hot melt type inserted and solidified in saidgrooves so as to securedly fix said ring to said elongated hollow body.4. The ring fixing structure as claimed in claim 3 which furthercomprises a step portion formed around the joint end of said elongatedhollow body, said groove being cut around said step portion.
 5. A ringfixing structure for a woodwind musical instrument comprising anelongated hollow body having a flared end, said flared end being groovedtherearound, a ring fitted around said flared end and having a grooveformed around the inside portion of said ring, both of said groovesfacing each other, and an adhesive of hot melt type inserted andsolidified in said grooves so as to securedly fix said ring to saidelongated hollow body.
 6. A method of fixing a ring around an elongatedhollow body of a woodwind musical instrument comprising the steps offorming grooves around the end portion of said elongated hollow body andaround the inside portion of said ring, respectively, inserting anadhesive of hot melt type into at least one of said grooves, fittingsaid ring around the end portion of said elongated hollow body, heatingsaid adhesive into a melted state, and solidifying the melted adhesivethereby to securedly fix said ring to said elongated hollow body.